Choices I say. The fictitious family can spend it’s money on whatever they want, but to pretend they are cash poor is just sad. Sometimes I’m really happy I grew up with depression era parents plus being taught that conspicuous consumption is terribly gauche and moreso if you are complaining about not having money. The double yuck.
Why pick on the 10 grand car budget? Maybe it is two cars. Even one car it may be nice but not super luxury. Even the 70k a year family has a 6k car budget.
We had a $1,200 car payment. A month. By choice. Luxury, huh?
Wait for it… $14,000 car. 1 year, 0%. Paid off in a year. 
The hypothetical family could cut back on a lot if need be in an emergency. The $2K per month for food, the $$ for music lessons and activities. The hypothetical family is based on a 3 and 5 year old. Surely, if push came to shove, corners could be cut to handle other things.
As far as the cars, I know wealthy families living in NYC and most don’t have 2 cars. With other transportation options, there just isn’t the need.
Exactly. This is a hypothetical 2-income household. Not unlikely, but still not very likely that both will be out of work at the same time.
We don’t have any money left over either after all our expenses plus money put into various investment/savings accounts. Doesn’t mean we are living paycheck to paycheck or are cash poor.
This article about this particular fictitious family is silly.
Really, doesn’t everyone live paycheck to paycheck, meaning they pay bills, transfer money to savings, maybe put a deposit on a vacation, and then do it all again the next month? Whether you get a $2000 paycheck or a $10k one, you have that money slotted to pay your expenses and normally shove the rest into some kind of savings, either long term or short. Have a big medical bill that money? Less (or nothing) goes into savings. Want to spend more on gifts? Less into savings.
I think $10k per year for clothing is underestimating for a family of 4 with two of them needing new shoes constantly. Clearly paying $50 grand in child care and $32k in student loans are expenses most people don’t have (because they couldn’t possibly afford it).
If the article was to show that even those making $500k don’t have money falling out of their pockets, it works. People who have more money have higher expenses. If it was to make us feel sorry for the Poor Little Rich Couple, it fails. We could all take a sharp pencil to that budget and find some money for college savings.
My understanding of living paycheck to paycheck is that your entire check is spent paying bills, with little to nothing left for savings. A person like this would not be able to weather a job loss.
Weird.
None of the kids I knew who attended private day/boarding schools needed sports or music ECs unless their academic records were exceedingly weak AND they were legacy/developmental types which wouldn’t apply to most upper-middle class NYC families anyways.
And if they were really short of money with kids with strong academic inclination, high work ethic, they could always attempt an application to Hunter College HS, the NYC Specialized High Schools, or other public magnets like Townsend Harris. All of which are FREE provided they qualify for admission.
I don’t think we could spend 2k on food if we tried. Aye…
@cobrat In the 70s there were many of my classmates at Bronx Science that came from well to do families in Manhattan. I’m not sure if that is still the case today.
I think in the interests of investigative journalism, we should all get a chunk of the 1/2 million and see how we could manage it perhaps a bit better so we don’t have to cry poverty.
“He also defended the $12,000 the family spends on music and sports lessons, saying the pressure to get into private high schools in major cities like New York and Los Angeles causes families to sink money into extracurricular activities.”
I spent 10k a year for 8 years just to send my kid to sleep away camp for 7 weeks each summer, so I don’t see anything outrageous about $12k for 2 kids extra curriculars. And this fictional family in NYC wouid probably have to spend $30k now for sleepaway camp on top of the $12k for EC’s. And yes, they all send their kids away to camp.
Have to or choose to? 
Pretty much have to because all the kids go and there isn’t anyone around for them to play/hang out with. Plus, with both parents working they aren’t saving much by not sending them since they wouid have to be in an all day program anyway.
Emilybee is, of course, correct. Most comfortably off families here pay that money for camp, and lessons are often at or above $12k, depending on the activity, and many kids do more than one. My son’s music and golf was that high. My daughter’s fencing and cooking classes, also. But it isn’t about getting into private high schools. That’s not how that works. But it rarely happens that kids in or looking at private schools don’t do activities.
Doschicos, summer childcare is insanely expensive and tough to find here.
Reconfirms my decision NOT to live in NYC. 
It’s not just NYC. My parents sent me away for the whole summer starting when I was 5 years old and I lived in CT. All my friends when we moved to Syracuse went away to summer camp. My friend’s kids where I am now all went too. It’s more a cultural thing then a where you live thing.
I agree it is a cultural thing. Most folks do a few weeks of camp. But even in circles where people are sending their kids to a 7 week summer session, most aren’t sending them to camps that cost $30+K.
In my area, it’s not a thing but I know people from places where it is. Honestly, I always felt sorry for the kids, both when I was a kid and as an adult. To me, summer has always been the less hectic months where families can spend more quality time together.
I know lots of families where the parents have to juggle to keep the kids occupied for the summer while both parents work full time. I liked having the flexibility to spend time with our kids and enroll them in short day programs or no program for the summer, for a nice change of pace. Since most of the kids they knew were in summer activities, if they weren’t enrolled in anything they just had each other and me.